Idaho
It's official! Construction on CEI's new Future Tech building begins – East Idaho News
Dignitaries and members of the community during a ceremonial turning of the soil Thursday morning for the groundbreaking of CEI’s new Future Tech Building. Watch highlights in the video above. | Video by Isabella Sosa-Salazar, EastIdahoNews.com
IDAHO FALLS – College of Eastern Idaho officially broke ground on its new Future Tech Building Thursday morning.
Construction on the 88,000-square-foot building is now underway in an empty field on the north side of the Idaho Falls campus. The two-level building will house energy, innovation and technology-related courses, such as cybersecurity and mechatronics, as well as IT and STEM programs.
“It’s constructed in a very open way. We don’t know what the careers are going to be in the future and it will be built in a way to accommodate that,” former CEI President Rick Aman tells EastIdahoNews.com.
RELATED | Construction slated to begin on new Future Tech building at CEI in June
In addition to classroom space, the building will have a conference center, field testing laboratories and a large gathering area for business and civic events, student group projects and bay space. Watch an animated fly-through of the building here.
The total cost of the project is about $50 million. Of that amount, about $32 million is being funded by taxpayers. The rest of the money is coming from grants and donations from the private sector.
The building is slated for completion in the fall of 2026.
During the groundbreaking, Aman noted this is his last official act as CEI’s president. Lori Barber, who previously served as the vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, was appointed to fill the role in June, which went into effect Thursday.
RELATED | College of Eastern Idaho appoints new president
CEI is the only educational institution in Idaho without a career and technical education building, according to its website. These courses are in high demand and the new building will solve a lot of challenges with inadequate space and limited resources so CEI can provide a “state-of-the-art” education for students.
Aman is thrilled to end his tenure by seeing this project come to fruition after three years of planning.
“What a fitting end, what a wonderful completion for me in my tenure as president. I couldn’t be more proud,” Aman says.
RELATED | College of Eastern Idaho President Rick Aman to retire in July
Barber was heavily involved in planning for this building in her previous role and is excited to oversee its construction.
“I certainly can’t think of a more exciting way to begin this journey than by celebrating the start of something so transformative for our students, faculty, staff and the community,” Barber said during the groundbreaking. “We’re not merely constructing a building, we’re laying the foundation for a legacy that will inspire and endure for generations to come.”
Anderson Construction has been selected as the general contractor for the project.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GROUNDBREAKING IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
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BLACKFOOT — A large contingent of Blackfoot Police officers has cordoned off an area near the Taco Bell on Parkway Drive in Blackfoot.
Police responded around 5 p.m., according to multiple witnesses who contacted EastIdahoNews.com.
EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to Blackfoot Police for details.
We will update this story as we learn more.
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MISSOULA, Mont. — An Idaho Falls angler is back in the Idaho record books after landing a record-setting lake trout at Payette Lake.
Idaho Fish and Game said Dylan Smith caught and released a 43.25-inch lake trout on May 2, setting a new state catch-and-release record for the species. The fish surpassed the previous record of 42 inches.
The catch marks Smith’s second appearance in Idaho’s record books. He previously held the state catch-and-release lake trout record after landing a trophy fish in 2018 before that mark was later broken.
According to Fish and Game, Payette Lake has become one of Idaho’s premier lake trout fisheries thanks to years of management efforts aimed at improving both lake trout and kokanee populations.
Pride Month looks different this June along Boise’s Harrison Boulevard, where a long-standing tradition of hanging Pride flags on lamp posts has been put on hold after a new state law restricted which flags can be flown on government property.
For several years, Pride flags lined lamp posts along Harrison Boulevard in Boise’s North End neighborhood. But Idaho House Bill 561, signed by Gov. Brad Little in March, restricts which flags can be flown on government property, including the City of Boise’s Harrison lamp posts.
In response, a group of neighbors formed Pride North End and launched a distribution effort to help residents show support from their own front yards. The group has been making Pride flags and yard signs available to people who want to display them at home.
“I thought that I would…be a personal example of ‘yes, this is what I do.’ This is what I believe in,” said Edna Schochat, a North End resident.
Pride North End has already distributed more than 900-yard signs and 250 flags. The group’s original donation goal was around $2,000 to order 100 flags and 200 yard signs, but it has exceeded that GoFundMe goal, reaching $10,000 worth of donations.
The group plans to continue holding public flag and sign distributions through the end of the month.
“We cannot just say something without doing something that proves that we mean what we say,” Schochat said.
Pride North End said any leftover funds after materials are distributed will go to local LGBTQ+ nonprofits. A link to the group’s GoFundMe can be found here.
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